INSERT into database using a dropdown menu - php

Question

The issue is with doing an INSERT into the dropdown. I was able to populate data from the DB into the drop down. The issue is inserting into a table from the dropdown.
HTML (Generated dropdown from database)
<div class="group">
<label>Subject</label>
<input type="text" name="subject">
</div>
<div class="group">
<label>Group</label>
<select id="ministry" name="group">
<option style="font-family: century gothic">---Select Ministry---</option>
<?php // populate dropdown ?>
<?php foreach($groups as $group): ?>
<option value="<?= $group['group_id'] ?>"><?= $group['groupname'] ?></option>
<?php endforeach; ?>
</select>
</div>
PHP (Code to insert into the database)
<?php
$date = "";
$subject = "";
$group = "";
$message = "";
$sql= "SELECT * FROM groups";
$stmt = $db->prepare($sql);
$stmt->execute();
$groups = $stmt->fetchAll();
if (isset($_POST['sendSMS'])) {
$date = (isset($_POST['date']));
$subject = $_POST['subject'];
$group = $_POST['group'];
$message = $_POST['message'];
$sql = "INSERT INTO message (date, subject, group, message)
VALUES
(:date, :subject, :group, :message)";
$stmt->execute(array(
':date' => $_POST['date'],
':subject' => $_POST['subject'],
':group' => $_POST['group'],
':message' => $_POST['message']));
$result = $sql->execute();
echo "SMS sent successfully";
}
?>

Answer 1

I moved your first query to the top of your page. It looks to me that is what is going to populate your html with the group data.
I cleaned up your html a bit. Well formatted code is much easier to read and much easier to troubleshoot when you have issues. I like to avoid breaking in and out of php.
Your insert query is close, but I made a very clear example for you to follow. This should show you the way going forward. Remember: Prepare, Bind, and Execute.
<?php
//DB select statement - This should probably go before your select html
$sql= "SELECT * FROM groups";
$stmt = $db->prepare($sql); //Prepare
//Nothing to bind
$stmt->execute(); //Execute
$groups = $stmt->fetchAll();
echo
'<div class="group">
<label>Subject</label>
<input type="text" name="subject">
</div>
<div class="group">
<label>Group</label>
<select id="ministry" name="group">
<option style="font-family: century gothic">---Select Ministry---</option>';
foreach($groups as $group){
echo
'<option value="' . $group['group_id'] . '">' . $group['groupname'] . '</option>';
}
echo
'</select>
</div>';
if(isset($_POST['sendSMS'])){
//insert into database
$query = "INSERT INTO `message`
(
`date`,
`subject`,
`group`,
`message`
)
VALUES
(
:date,
:subject,
:group,
:message
)";
//Remember these three steps. 1.)Prepare, 2.)Bind, 3.)Execute
$stmt = $db->prepare($query); //Prepare
//Bind
$stmt->bindParam(":date", $_POST['date']);
$stmt->bindParam(":subject", $_POST['subject']);
$stmt->bindParam(":group", $_POST['group']);
$stmt->bindParam(":message", $_POST['message']);
//Execute
$stmt->execute();
echo "SMS sent successfully";
}
?>
Here are two sources for you to read on PDO. I highly recommend looking over both of them and bookmark them so you can reference when you need them.
https://phpdelusions.net/pdo
https://websitebeaver.com/php-pdo-prepared-statements-to-prevent-sql-injection

Answer 2

<?php
//---session start---
session_start();
//---variables iniatiated and set to empty---
$date = "";
$subject = "";
$group = "";
$message = "";
//--try begins here---
//---include db connection---
require 'db.php';
$sql= "SELECT * FROM groups";
$stmt = $db->prepare($sql);
$stmt->execute();
$groups = $stmt->fetchAll();
if(isset($_POST['sendSMS'])){
//insert into database
$query = "INSERT INTO member(date, subject, group, message) VALUES (:date, :subject, :group, :message)";
$stmt = $db->prepare($query);
$stmt->bindParam(":date", $_POST['date']);
$stmt->bindParam(":subject", $_POST['subject']);
$stmt->bindParam(":group", $_POST['group']);
$stmt->bindParam(":message", $_POST['message']);
$stmt->execute();
echo "SMS sent successfully";
header('location: SMSsent.php');
}
//--close connection---
unset($db);
<form>
<div class="group">
<label>Group</label>
<select id="ministry" name="group">
<?php
foreach($groups as $group){
echo '<option value="' . $group['group_id'] . '">' . $group['groupname'] . '</option>';
}
?>
</select>
</div>
<div class="group">
<label>Message</label>
<textarea
style="text-align: left; vertical-align: middle;"
cols="25" rows="7" name="message" id="clear">
</textarea>
</div>
<button type="submit" class="btn" name="sendSMS">Send SMS</button>
</div>
</form>